Kurultaj will be organized in Bugac between August 12–14 for the seventh time already. The Hungarian Tribal Meeting reunites the nations of Hun and Turkic origin or consciousness every second year so that they could remember their ancient traditions together. This time one of the guests of the event will be H. E. Baghdad Amreyev, the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, also Sultan Raev, the Secretary General of TÜRKSOY, as well as Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan, the President of the World Association of Ethno-sports. The Representation Office of the OTS is going to participate in the greatest event of traditionalists in Europe for the first time.
The Hungarian–Turan Foundation, in charge of the organization, expects more than 200.000 visitors to Bugac for the three days of Kurultaj. Among the programs one can find archery, falconry, tournaments on horseback, as well as various tests of strength. Those interested will be able to admire a special event, an almost 1.000-strong “nomadic procession“, and an archeological–anthropological exhibition presenting the era of the Huns to be opened in the largest yurt in the world. The traditionalist attractions will present both adults and children with a great experience while they will be able to pay homage to our ancestors founding the Hungarian nation, or nomadic horse riding past and our unity with our brother nations.
It was in 2007 that the first modern Kurultaj was organized at the initiative of András Zsolt Bíró, the researcher into anthropology and human biology of the Hungarian Museum of Natural Sciences. Since then the event has become the greatest joint festival of the unity and kinship of the nations that possess a horse-riding nomadic past. All brotherly nations with a Hun or Turkic origin or consciousness will participate in the fifteen-year-old Hungarian Tribal Meeting. Their aim is to commemorate the horse riding nomadic culture of the steppe and our great ancestors – among them Chiefs Attila and Árpád, batir Karcig and Amir Timur. They also intend to display to the public the earliest features and traditions of our national history in an exciting and spectacular way. Those attending Kurultaj will be able to enjoy the show of the best horseback archers, the nomadic fight with spears on horseback, as well as falconry and hunting with greyhounds. The ancient tests of strength will also be revived, and the pulling of the pole and wrestling championship will also be held within the framework of the Hungarian Tribal Meeting. Those with an enterprising spirit can have themselves tested in horse riding and archery and they can see for themselves how well they would have been able to stand their ground among the peoples living on the steppe.
One of the major attractions of the Kurultaj will be the grand „nomadic procession.” Close to 1.000 fighters, women and children, as well as farm animals will be marching in contemporary attires and with contemporary equipment, paying homage to the traditions of the nomadic traditions. What is more, a huge nomadic settlement, consisting of more than a hundred yurts, will also be built to faithfully picture the era of the Conquest of the Carpathian basin. It is as if we could fly back in time.
During his briefing to the press, András Zsolt Bíró, the “father” of modern Kurultaj, and the founding President of the Hungarian–Turan Foundation, emphasized the following: “The most important goal of Kurultaj is to commemorate our Hungarian ancestors and the great figures of the nomadic history of the steppe. We also wish to offer an opportunity to the brotherly peoples that separated a long time ago to meet again. By today the event has become a bond shat is able to unite not only all the Hungarians in the Carpathian basin but the peoples in Central Asia that preserve the heritage of horseback nomadic culture as well. Every two years the delegations of 27 brotherly nations come together, and the various traditionalist programs of music, folk dances, handicraft presented by them make this unique event complete.”
Besides the military programs, the cultural and sport events, the visitors can also attend academic and informative lectures on the ancient history of the Hungarians and the horseback nomadic civilization. These will be presented in the large lecture tent by renowned historians, anthropologists, geneticists, archeologists and ethnographers. The staff of the Hungarian–Turan Foundation will also be expecting the guests and the delegations of the brotherly peoples with exceptionally valuable exhibitions. The archeological and anthropological treasures of the Sarmatians, the Avars, the Huns, and the first place those of Hungarian peoples conquering the Carpathian basin will be displayed. And in “Attila’s Tent”, in the largest yurt in the world that can be disassembled one can admire the display of the Huns prepared with the assistance of the Hungarian Museum of Natural Sciences.
The organizers have, naturally, made thorough preparations for the great heat and the high number of visitors – the guests will have at their disposal a shaded out-door stand, a yurt for young mothers and their babies, a playhouse, tents to take a rest in, vapor gates and free drinking water.
